Sunday 5 June
There’s been so much happening this week that I’ve had to be a bit selective in what I’ve reported. In the news are some major policy updates in both the UK and US, some new resources for job seekers that I’ve become aware of, and a campaign launch to reduce background noise in restaurants. Read about these and more in my weekly roundup below.
- US Policy update: Hearing Health Care for Adults
- UK Policy: Is Welfare to Work working well?
- Technology: Four hidden iPhone tricks
- Hearing Loss Hour: Communication tips
- Resources: The Daily Job Seeker
- Resources: DWP Knowledge Hub
- Research: The association between hearing aids, cochlear implants and depression
- Campaign update: Background noise in restaurants
- UK Policy update: Development of NICE guidance on adult hearing loss
- Conference feedback: HEAL2016
- New career and volunteer opportunities
- Key diary dates for conferences and workshops (new entries highlighted in blue)
In the news
Hearing Health Care for Adults
In the States, the big news of the week was the publication of a major report on adult hearing loss and priorities for improving access and affordability. The above link to the webpage provides access to the full report as well asa patient action guide and a handy slide set summarising the key findings and recommendations. These include the usual issues of improving use of data, better information for the public on hearing health, alignment of best practice and competencies and development of metrics to evaluate services. However, the recommendations also include new regulations and the introduction of ‘over-the-counter’ hearing aids. Taken together, this report looks likely to make a massive impact on hearing aid provision and hearing health across the USA.
Is Welfare to Work working well?
The Work Foundation published their report on the current welfare to work programme, looking at the employment of people with disabilities and long term conditions and highlighting how support might be improved.
Four hidden iPhone tricks for people with hearing impairments
This was a great little blog page I came across providing some tips on changing the settings of your iPhone to include visual alerts and custom vibrations.
Hearing Loss Hour: Communications tips
This week’s hearing loss hour had the theme of communication tips. If you click on the link above, it will take you to the conversation and some helpful communications tips including a great poster from Connevans. I also got a tip off that the NHS may soon be dispensing made for iPhone hearing aids – watch this space!
If you’re looking for work, then I came across this great Tumblr page that provides job search ideas, CV and interview tips and many other things. It looks a really useful Tumblr page to sign up to follow.
Alternatively, if you’re looking for work and are a tweeter, then check out the DWP Knowledge Hub twitter page that looks really helpful too.
Hearing aids and cochlear implants usage associated with improvements in depressive symptoms
The Journal of the American Medical Association published some research recently that found significant improvements in depression amongst those people who had received hearing aids or cochlear implants.
Background noise in restaurants
Action on hearing loss announced a new campaign to work with restaurants to reduce background noise. Something that might be music to many of our ears!
NICE – Hearing loss assessment and management
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published the final scope for its emerging guidance on the assessment and management of presenting hearing loss in adults. Work will start on the guidance in the coming year which is expected to be published in May 2018.
HEaring Across the Lifespan (HEAL) – 2016
Finally HEAL2016 took place this week in Italy. The event which takes place every year bring people together to discuss contemporary research findings alongside cutting-edge clinical practice. I must admit I’d not heard of it until this week but looking at the programme, its looks as if it was a great conference and my twitter feed was abuzz with live tweets from the various presentations using the #heal2016 hashtag.
New Career and Volunteer opportunities
Some weeks I occasionally spot career and volunteering opportunities which I’ll post here from time to time. This week’s opportunities include:
- Deaf Action in Edinburgh are looking for a Community care assistant with a closing date of 24 June
- Hearing Link highlighted recruitment (open until June 2016) for a clinical trial for tinnitus sufferers.
- BID services advertise a range of posts across the country on their vacancies page.
- Numerous volunteering opportunities across the country (with Action on Hearing Loss)
- DeafBlind UK are also looking for volunteers
- Royal Association for Deaf People have a range of jobs on their Careers page from their own and other organisations.
- DeafPlus are advertising three jobs for Hackney advice services with a closing date of 10 June.
Key Diary Dates
National Association of Deaf People – 11 June
NADP are holding a conference alongside their AGM on Saturday 11th June 2016 at the Ear Foundation in Nottingham. Entitled “Adjusting to deafness – what is available?”, the conference offers topics of interest to those who are newly deafened and also information for members who have been deafened for some time who would like to know about new developments.
Hearing Loss Association of America: 2016 Convention 23-26 June
The Hearing Loss Association of America has announced the details of its convention for 2016 which will be held in Washington, DC between 23-26 June. It looks like an interesting programme.
Tinnitus Information Day – 2 July
The British Tinnitus Association is holding a tinnitus information day in Manchester on 2 July.
Concepts and Techniques of Contemporary Hearing Research – 18-22 July
The National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) announced a free weeklong course at their institute in Bethesda, Maryland. Their website includes details of the programme for each day.
British Deaf Association 2016 Congress – 20-24 July
This year the BDA celebrates 125 years and will be holding its annual congress in Torquay.
Deaf and Disability Careers Fair – 9 September
Deaf Unity announced their Deaf and Disability Careers Fair to take place on 9 September in Bristol.
33rd World Congress of Audiology – 18-21 September
Early bird registration is now open for the World Congress of Audiology which, this year, takes place in Vancouver, Canada.
British Tinnitus Association – 22 September
The British Tinnitus Association is holding its annual conference in Manchester.
Association of Speech Language Interpreters (ASLI) – annual conference on 1-2 October
The next ASLI conference will be held on 1-2 October in Newcastle upon Tyne . Check out ASLI’s webpage for their call for abstracts along with details of the conference theme and venue.
British Academy of Audiology – 10-11 November
The BAA Conference is the largest audiology conference in the UK attracting a host of international speakers. This year it will be held in Glasgow.
The Third International Meeting on Internet & Audiology – 27-28 July 2017
This is a free conference being held at the University of Louisville, Kentucky. Looking at last year’s programme (which can be found on the webpage), it looks like there could be some really interesting presentations and discussions.